Hi all, I'm using Vegas 6.0d and am working on a project where I have multiple text events in place to serve as subtitles.

I've had a request to "blur" the area behind the subs. I've tried duplicating the track, blurring the lower video event and applying a cookie cutter to the upper video event...which seems to work in theory. The problem is that none of the predfined shapes cover the area of the screen that I want to blur.

The rectangle is too square. I even tried an upside-down triangle, but as the Center Y won't go higher than 1, it covers much more of the screen than I'd like.

Is there any way to modify the shape? Or does anyone have any other suggestions for tackling this in Vegas?

Dawn, see if this works for you.
Text on track 1.
Event on track 2.
Duplicate of event on track 3.
Apply "extreme" Gaussian Blur FX on event on track 2.

Now it's Bezier mask time.
Open up Pan/Crop window on event on track 2.
Select Mask (instead of Position) next to timeline.
Click Anchor Creation Tool, draw your custom shape and position accordingly.
With any luck, this will give you the effect you're looking for.

Sort of funny that I saw this today. Just watched an video podcast regarding this type of blur. You can check it out at http://www.izzyvideo.com/

I have enjoyed this guys podcasts and he does a prety good job of showing what he is talking about.

Mike,

Worked great! You are a genius. :)

I'm having a little trouble with the anchor creation tool, but think I'll get the hang of it with some practice.

Thanks again for the great tip!

And thanks for the lead on www.izzyvideo.com, Randy. I appreciate it!